Eschatology Matters

By, Apostle John Eckhardt, www.impactnetwork.net

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The Eschatological confusion we are seeing with the date setting by Harold Camping is a symptom of the greater problem of bad and incorrect Eschatology in the Evangelical Church. Most Evangelicals have embraced the teaching of Scofield, Darby, and Larkin known as Premillennial Dispensationalism. This teaching was never held by the church in its previous 1800 years and had been promulgated by current Bible Prophecy teachers such as Lahaye, Hagee, Jeffries, Van Impe, and Stone to name a few. The emphasis on the last days, and end times, has caused many in the church to be what I call End Times Delusion, and Last Days Madness, and may I add Dispensational Dementia. The Last Days, has been extended beyond the First Century to include the entire so called Church Dispensation, until the present time. In other words the Last Days, have lasted longer than the entire Old Covenant Age (1500 Years). The coming of the Lord and the Tribulation have been IMMINENT since Pentecost. In other words it has been IMMINENT for 2000 years which in itself is a contradiction. The Church has an Eschatological problem that it needs to deal with. This problem has caused the world to look at us a bunch of religious nuts, and whack jobs. I am afraid that change will not come from the top. Most pastors are too deeply rooted in Dispensationalism. There are a few pastors are challenging Dispensationalism, but the change is coming from a Grass Roots, movement of believers who are studying and reevaluating this popular teaching, and coming to the conclusion that it is wrong. In order to understand the doctrine of the Last Days, one must have an understanding of what the prophets spoke. The apostles got their understanding of the Last Days from the prophets, and Peter quotes the prophecy of Joel on the Day of Pentecost. They understood they were living in the Last Days, and warned Israel of the judgments that were coming. Deuteronomy chapter 32, the Song of Moses, is probably the most extensive prophecy of the Last days, and yet most believers are unfamiliar with it. Moses is prophesying of Israels rebellion, and Gods judgment upon her for her covenant violations, and her mistreatment of the prophets.

The Last Days would be the Days of Vengeance spoken of by Christ in Luke 21, and the judgment upon his generation in Matthew 23. In other words, the Last Days were the Last Days of old Covenant Israel, and the judgment that would come in that generation. To extend the Last Days beyond the First century is to take the scriptures out of their historical context and to ignore audience relevance in interpretation. The result is constant speculation and newspaper exegesis that looks at current events as fulfillment of prophecy, and signs of the imminent return of the LORD. The problem is one cannot have IMMINENCE for 2000 years.

You cannot have CONTINUAL IMMINENCE. The church must revaluate its ESCHATOLOGICAL TEACHING and be humble enough to admit we have been wrong in some areas. If we dont, we will continue to have eschatological confusion and a serious problem in the eyes of those we are trying to reach with the good news of the Kingdom.

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